


HR Policy

by xenoglossia (oncharredwings)



Series: One Shots & Shorts [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Office, Cutesy, Fluff, M/M, tooth rotting cute wtf
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-21
Updated: 2018-02-21
Packaged: 2019-03-21 22:59:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13751001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oncharredwings/pseuds/xenoglossia
Summary: The new manager stood taller than anyone else on the floor and with shoulders and biceps that could make Atlas blush, Takashi Shirogane was hard to miss. Shiro worked his team hard, but his kindness and understanding made an impression on the department in seismic waves. Everyone wanted to be a part of Shiro’s team.>> Short Office AU drabble





	HR Policy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [arahir](https://archiveofourown.org/users/arahir/gifts), [tagteamme](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tagteamme/gifts).



> Dedicated to Zan, Jojo, and Lia for always being amazing people who I love to follow and make my fandom experience fantastic.

The new manager stood taller than anyone else on the floor and with shoulders and biceps that could make Atlas blush, Takashi Shirogane was hard to miss. Shiro worked his team hard, but his kindness and understanding made an impression on the department in seismic waves. Everyone wanted to be a part of Shiro’s team. 

Keith couldn’t blame the jealous many. Shiro believed in everyone he ever met and he never gave up on anyone. His team started at the bottom with the lowest metric stores across the board and the worst attendance record across the various teams in the office building. Within three months time, Shiro’s team now stood at the top with the highest metric scores and the best attendance record in the entire building. Soft spoken Shiro with a knack for leadership created a safe and welcoming environment for his team members as well as for anyone who needed help across the floor.

Takashi Shirogane was a  _ good _ person and Keith would know. After all, he’d been Shiro’s boyfriend for the past two years.

 

* * *

  
  


“Keith.” 

Keith plucked a rounded earbud from his right ear at the muffled voice, but he didn’t pause the song coming through the speakers nor did he stop correcting the six data sheets he’d been given this morning. There was no need to look to see who had joined him, only one person on the floor could loom and cast a shadow as large as Shiro’s.

“What’s up?” Keith asked, not taking his eyes off of the Excel columns. 

“Are you listening?” Shiro asked quietly just as he slowly crouched to be on the same eye level with Keith at his desk. Shiro hated looming. 

“Half,” he conceded. The data sheets had so many mistakes they were giving him a headache, but he could also see why Shiro had asked him to correct the columns since he was the fastest worker on the floor. Having his boyfriend as his manager didn’t always go  _ smoothly _ , but Keith tried to set aside his personal feelings for Shiro while at work at all times. He was a professional. 

“Did Lance do these?” Keith continued before Shiro could speak again. 

“I won’t say.” 

“So, yes.” 

“ _ Keith _ .” Shiro sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose where a jagged scar slashed across his handsome face. In Keith’s opinion, the scar made Shiro seem more distinguished. 

“What?” 

“Can you more than half listen, please?” 

“Can’t if you need these by noon,” Keith replied. His fingers flew across the keys and he didn’t break concentration in favor of doing the task he’d been asked to do. If Shiro wanted to talk about something personal it could wait until break. 

“Fine,” Shiro huffed but continued in a low voice only for Keith’s ears. “I got a note about meeting  _ my _ manager at lunchtime and…” 

Keith’s fingers stuttered across the keys and he knew he’d messed up a column, but his mind traveled back to the day before after work. Hands pulling Shiro’s buttoned collar open in the parking lot while Shiro’s fingers tangled in the black mane of Keith’s hair. Flushed cheeks and hungry mouths searching for the other out of view. 

At least, he’d thought they’d been out of view. 

“ _ And _ …?” Keith prompted slowly. 

“And I’m concerned someone might have seen us and snitched,” Shiro whispered. “Maybe I should just transfer to another department.” 

“No,” Keith said immediately. There was no debating the fact that Shiro had turned their entire team around and if anyone had to leave Keith would insist it be him. “You just got hired four months ago and people love you here. If anyone should be transferred, it’s me.” 

Shiro said his name and the tone came across sad and defeated like they’d just lost a war. “I don’t want you to be transferred.” 

“Well, I don’t want you to be transferred either. I’m sure that’s not it, why would your manager wait until lunch if that was it? Right?” Keith regained his bearings enough to fix the column he’d screwed up a moment ago. “No one knows, Shiro.” 

Shiro’s eyes went down to the floor for a moment and Keith knew he was trying to reign himself inward. Despite the calm demeanor, Shiro put on all of the time, Keith knew Shiro’s anxieties ruled his nerves.

“No more making out at work,” Shiro said then as a final ruling. He stood up after and raised his voice to say, “I need those sheets by noon, Keith.” 

Keith rolled his eyes at the show Shiro put on and placed his earbud back in place again.  _ No more making out at work _ . Keith snorted and knew Shiro would change his mind by their first break and they would find a stairwell to makeout in. He always did. 

Until then, Keith would play along with Shiro’s word as law but they both knew who gave the orders in their house. The thought of taking Shiro home, shoving him up against the closed door, and undoing him bit by bit had Keith squirming in his seat. Another column messed up. 

_ Quit it Kogane, inappropriate thoughts later. Work now _ . 

Clearing his head, Keith shoved his shoulders back and forced images of Shiro’s flushed face from his mind back into the depraved gutter they’d arose from.   
  


Office buildings were similar to high schools – once a rumor starts, they grow, twist, and turn into ugly versions of themselves until a new one comes along and the process repeats itself in an incestuous cycle. 

Shiro and Keith kept their relationship under wraps because Shiro was Keith’s manager, even though they’d never  _ asked _ to be in this position. Shiro had needed a new job, Keith already worked for the company on a team that had lost its previous team lead to another job position. 

Neither of them  _ wanted _ this, but Keith still felt a thrill every time he managed to steal Shiro away and push him up against empty tables and against stairwell walls. The way Shiro gasped and moaned softly in the back of his throat and the line of his neck where his pulse quickened and jumped against the skin would bead sweat.

Keith always felt powerful in those moments. 

Like right now.

"Pretty sure this is again'st HR's policy, Shiorgane," Keith said with a chuckle. He worried Shiro's earlobe between his teeth to tease. 

“Keith, Keith, baby, I have my meeting,” Shiro panted as a reminder, but Keith’s lips were busy trailing kisses down Shiro’s neck and into the collar of his shirt. The white button up was too tight across Shiro’s shoulders but Keith wasn’t complaining. 

“Just a second,” Keith muttered against the soft skin at Shiro’s collarbone. The white dress shirt wrinkled in Keith’s experienced hands. Having dated Shiro for so long, he knew exactly each button to press and how to make Shiro moan and whine until he was a mess. 

“Keith, really.” Shiro’s voice lost its whimpering tone and became serious Manager Shiro again.

At the shift in pace, Keith sighed and dropped his forehead against Shiro’s shoulder. His wandering hands stilled and the stairwell grew quiet save for the two of them regaining their breath from the almost quickie. “You owe me big,” Keith said. He grabbed Shiro’s jaw between forefinger and thumb to give him another sloppy, wet kiss. A single strand of saliva connected them when Keith pulled back. The perfect shade of titanium, Shiro’s eyes looked dark and sleepy from arousal. “Got it?” 

“Yes,” Shiro whispered. “But I have to go. I’ll talk to you after lunch… If I still have my job.”

“ _ No one knows _ ,” Keith said sternly. “You still have your job. Stop panicking before you even sit down.” 

“You’re right. Thank you, Keith.” Shiro fixed his collar and tucked his shirt back in before leaving Keith in the stairwell. 

The door clanged shut and the sound reverberated in the silent hall. Keith sighed and stared up at the concrete ceiling and felt pangs of pain run through to his core. Being horny at work was  _ not _ what he’d signed up for and Keith briefly considered quitting so he didn’t have to deal with this feeling ever again. Except then he’d see way less of Shiro and he wasn’t about that life, either. 

So, horny at work it is. 

Keith left the stairwell and caught sight of Shiro disappearing into a conference room with the pretty blonde haired woman named Allura. She was the reigning manager of the site, so Keith hoped whatever she wanted to talk to him about it didn’t involve the words  _ you’re fired _ in the same sentence. 

 

* * *

  
  


Allura asking Shiro to lunch wasn’t necessarily a bad thing – it wasn’t even a  _ new _ thing. Ever since his hire date, Allura had been welcoming, receptive, and kind to him in a way that Shiro never doubted her appreciation to the hard work he put into the job. Maybe they were just going to sit and chat about the good numbers his team kept outputting or maybe she wanted to send him on another project. 

Maybe she wanted to fire him.

Shiro sank down in the seat opposite Allura, holding onto the paper sack lunch he brought every day – made by one Keith Kogane – with a death grip tight enough to make his fingers go numb. 

“I’m sure you’re wondering why I asked you for lunch,” Allura said. She leaned over slightly to look beyond Shiro’s shoulder, which made him frown, but he didn’t turn around to see what had her distracted. His full attention remained on her.

“Yes… Um… Am I in some sort of trouble?” Shiro asked. “If so, I’m sorry for whatever it is–.” 

“Well…” Allura frowned and then finally turned a smile on him as bright as the white wall behind her head. “Is your day going well?” 

The change in topics threw Shiro for a loop, but he managed to squeeze out an uncertain nod. “Yes? It was fine… I mean… Again, I’m just hoping I’m not in some type of trouble. I know we sometimes eat lunch together, but usually, we eat downstairs.”

“Well, I wanted to…” Allura trailed off, once again her attention robbed from him, to look at whatever was going on outside of the door through the little glass window. “I wanted to talk about… Your numbers, yes. They’re very high. I’m impressed but also…  _ concerned _ .” 

“Concerned?” Shiro asked. He’d never heard of a manager being concerned over  _ high _ numbers – unless, she thought he was cheating his way to the top. God, he hoped not. 

“Yes. Concerned. See, I know you come from various leadership roles and your numbers are always good… but you changed your team around  _ so _ fast, and I know I should only… praise you, but–.” Allura cut off and Shiro finally attempted to turn to look, but she reached over and grabbed his shoulder to draw his attention once again.

The frown creasing Shiro’s brow grew tenfold. “You’re… concerned… I’m cheating my way to the top?”

“Yes,” Allura said but she was smiling wide. Stupidly wide. 

“Oh…” Shiro flinched at the thought of his manager believing he was a cheat. “I’m not sure what to say to alleviate your concerns. I work hard to make my team want to work hard. You just have to find motivation and what motivates every person– So, this isn’t about… Keith Kogane?” 

“Hm?” Allura turned her distracted gaze back on him. “About who?” 

“This isn’t about Keith?” 

“What about Keith?” 

Shiro tilted his head to the side. Something was wrong here. The fake smiling, the distracted behavior, the fact that she  _ wasn’t _ chewing him out for making out with his own employee. “Uh. Nothing… I’m… What’s going on?” 

“Hm? Nothing. We were talking about your team, right?” Allura’s fake smile returned. 

“Right. You said I cheated.” 

“What? Oh, God no, no, no. I know you don’t  _ cheat _ .” Allura laughed and threw her hair back, blonde hair bouncing in the ponytail she wore daily. “What a preposterous thing to say, Shiro.” 

“But you  _ just _ said…” 

Someone knocked on the door and Shiro finally managed to turn around in time to watch as the door opened and his entire team ushered in with a cake, balloons, a large gift bag, and singing  _ Happy Birthday _ , while Shiro looked on in disbelief. He looked at Allura, who was now genuinely smiling, and realized this was a giant set up. 

They were celebrating his birthday and he  _ wasn’t _ going to be fired. 

Keith stood in the back corner, leaning back against the wall, arms across his chest. Shiro smiled at him and Keith returned the gesture with a private one of his own. Once Hunk and Lance finished the final syllables of the song, Shiro blushed but leaned forward to quickly blow out the candles on his cake. The cake itself decorated with one of those edible photos of his first day with the team. 

“Guys,” Shiro said and quickly dabbed his eyes on the bag of his hand. “What is this?” 

“Happy  _ birthday _ . We had to con Allura into helping us because you  _ never  _ leave your desk,” Pidge said and handed him a card. “We told her to make it seem like you were in serious trouble so we could distract you while we grabbed all the stuff.” 

Shiro looked back at Keith who finally walked over to place a warm hand on his shoulder. “Thank you… This is too much. I’ve never been a part of a team who liked me  _ this _ much. Wow.” 

“We got you a gift, too,” Lance said as he took the bag from Hunk to hand over to Shiro. “It was my– Ow!” Lance winced when Keith elbowed his ribs. “ _ All _ of our ideas to get you that.”

Shiro frowned but he opened the bag, removing a stack of tissue paper until he managed to fish out an envelope. “You really put this in this bag?” Shiro asked with a laugh, but he opened the envelope anyway. Inside were two airline tickets to Tokyo, Japan. 

The enormity of the gesture left Shiro speechless.

“You’re always talking how you want to go back home to see your grandparents and we sort of pulled the  _ entire _ floor together to get those for you,” Hunk said with a warm smile. 

Tears choked his voice and prevented him from talking. He just stared at the two roundtrip tickets mindlessly. 

“It’s for both you and uh… Your significant other,” Lance said slowly, his eyes darting to Keith. 

Keith squeezed his shoulder in mutual support. Shiro wiped his eyes again, slowly setting the envelope down on the table. “Thank you,” he managed quietly. “This… means a lot to me.”

“The dates are set for your vacation that I  _ made _ you take,” Allura said with a soft laugh. “You’ve done amazing, Shiro, and we really don’t even deserve you… But we are  _ all _ thankful for what you do here. I hope you enjoy your trip.” 

Shiro stood to give her a tight hug and then he felt his entire team immediately attack him with a group hug. Shiro laughed with them and Allura told them they had an hour to eat cake and she would key it into their schedules. Once Allura left the room, Shiro sank back into his seat at the head of the table to cut cake.

“So, uh, you do know we all know, right?” Lance said slowly. “About you and Keith? So that other ticket is for Keith.”

“Wait-  _ what _ ?” Shiro’s heart jumped in his chest but Keith squeezed his shoulder again to ground him from having a panic attack. “ _ How _ ?”

“You guys aren’t exactly  _ secretive _ ,” Pidge said with a snort. “I mean you always make Keith do extra work.”

“And you guys give each other heart eyes during our team meetings,” Hunk added on.

“And I saw you making out in the parking lot one day,” Lance said as the final killing blow.

Shiro groaned and hid his face in his hands. “Please don’t tell Allura,” he mumbled.

Keith laughed and grabbed the knife to start cutting cake. “Relax babe, they all know and no one is telling Allura under pain of death, right?”

Pidge smiled and handed everyone a paper plate. “We’d ride or die for you, Shiro, so we won’t tell.”  

Shiro sighed and looked up at Keith who looked content and happy even at a team event. A smile lifted his lips as he realized he would finally have a chance to share his childhood with Keith. “Thank you all so much,” he said, even though his eyes were on Keith still. “I love you guys.”

Keith glanced at him and his cheeks turned pink. “Uh… Let’s eat cake.”

The team eagerly agreed but Shiro didn’t stop making heart eyes at Keith throughout the hour.

 

* * *

 

 

"Did you  _know_ about this?" Shiro asked Keith later that night when they were both sitting on the bed preparing to watch Chopped on Netflix. 

"About what?" 

"About  _this_." He waved the tickets around as an indicator. "Did you know that my meeting earlier  _wasn't_ about us?" 

Keith snorted as he climbed into bed and pressed a kiss to Shiro's temple. "I planned it," he said. "I told them what you wanted for your birthday and how we could never afford it and everyone just started pitching in. Fuck, the fucking  _lunch_ lady pitched in a twenty. You're well-liked, Shiro." 

"So, you let me panic over nothing," Shiro said slowly but Keith quieted him again with another kiss. He sighed into Keith's mouth, immediately melting into the pillows. 

"Yes," Keith said and played with Shiro's cowlick gently. "I love you, but I had to let you suffer just a little." 

Shiro huffed out a laugh. "I honestly forgot about my birthday." 

"Mmmm too bad, I was going to give you birthday sex." Keith winked and turned the television on. "But since you  _forgot_ , I suppose it's not that big of a deal." 

He stammered. "Keith! I want– I want birthday sex." 

Keith's smile turned wicked and Shiro quickly learned the definition of  _Netflix & chill_. 

 


End file.
